November 9^th 2011 Wednesday Message Summary

Scriptures: John 5:25, James 2:26

Whether their soul and spirit are living or dead, there are people who know and there are people who don’t know. Please check whether your soul and spirit are living or dead as you listen to the Word.

If your soul and spirit are dead:

You live according to your physical nature, so you feel miserable, lonely, and desolate in the heart. Even when you listen to the Word, the Word does not penetrate your heart fierily. In your daily life also, the Lord’s thoughts don’t come to you clearly. You don’t really know what to do in your place of mission. In your heart, worldly thoughts always surge like waves. You don’t really think of the Lord. You can’t pray well. You don’t really sing praises, either. You tend to give up on yourself. You lose motivation. You don’t feel hopeful but you get disappointed. You feel agonized, become irritable, and also become angry. Your physical nature becomes strong, so you think only of yourself. Since your soul and spirit are dead, your spirit doesn’t function properly. As a result, sadness floods into your heart, making your heart like a funeral house and making you feel your life is lonely.

Since your soul is dead, both your body and spirit only sleep. You don’t feel like going to church. You only keep sleeping. You always end up doing miscellaneous things only. Your thoughts are not bright. You lose desire to take action. You become idle. You are not busy but just waste your time. You just watch TV often and use your time physically. You spend time watching the things that grab your attention on the internet and you spend time doing things that are not really necessary. You are unable to keep the time that you promised to the Lord. Even if you go to the church, you are not on time and you go to church mindlessly. You live your life just according to the way things flow, and just according to the situation and environment.

As for me, because my soul and spirit were dead, and therefore could not function, I couldn’t keep the time that I promised to the Lord, I couldn’t pray deeply, the Lord’s words stopped coming, I lacked wisdom, so I realized only at my own level the things that I normally knew, and the rhythm of my daily life and my spiritual rhythm were broken. I felt miserable in my heart and in the spirit; and I saw the things of reality reflected in my dreams. I wasn’t busy but I was bored with time. I had spare time since the Lord wasn’t giving me the Word. I realized, ‘If our soul and spirit are dead, we don’t transform and we aren’t busy, either.’

A person whose soul is alive is very busy because the Lord uses their body. Changes take place. But people whose soul is dead tend to spend and use time only for personal matters because their soul is dead. Their own thoughts dominate and their physical nature becomes strong. Satan comes with an intention to live next to them permanently. Additionally, such people’s thoughts and deeds in their daily lives stay at a physical level. This is when ‘you are dead even though you have a reputation of being alive.’

If our soul and spirit come to life, we can immediately receive the Lord’s Word in the heart. This is the same as a light turning on and shining brightly as soon as its severed cord is reconnected. If the soul and spirit are dead, time just passes by while you are unable to transform. Spiritual death is like sleep.

Those of you who are dead in the mind, heart, thoughts, and spirit must now all come to life. The soul and spirit must come to life in order for the transformation of the spirit, mind, and actions to take place. Only then will you be able to do the Lord’s work properly at this final portion of the year, fulfill a great history, and conclude this year well.

The Lord says, “You who are asleep, come to life from among the dead.” When the soul and spirit come to life, the body starts taking action. I encourage all of you to pray so that your soul and spirit will come to life. I, myself, prayed. When I prayed deeply, my heart and soul began to gradually come to life. If you pray for three days or for a week, your heart and spirit will receive strength and arise, just as a sick person gets up after taking medicine. Once you come to life, the Lord’s ideas and methods will come to mind whatever you may do.